Wow! This response alone must be one of the most powerful examples to show them. And what a great resource.

I’m also a big fan of storytelling in presentations, so I would definitely go down that route.

Also, for quick clips to kick off I’ve used this commoncraft utube vid – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE

I also agree with the point made that you can probably only cover one or possibly two points if you are going to do them justice

Good luck

Ben

Since everyone’s motives are different at the margin, consider sticking to the core reasons they benefit. Those include job security and the expansion of career and project opportunities. Those translate into money, freedom and happiness.

There’s a fair amount of work in maintaining a good network and many professionals are getting ruthless about what impinges on their non-work time. Easy, efficient, targeted, productive might be good adjectives. They’ll be more meaningful with real life examples. Perhaps you can get some from your target audience beforehand.

I love linkedin – its partially closed nature has a purpose and creates different kinds of relationships to broad spread networks like twitter. The Q&A system on Linkedin yielded 26 answers – http://www.linkedin.com/answers?viewQuestion=&questionID=542545&askerID=14761836&goback=.mml_inbox_none_DATE_1.mid_1427712819
Whilst there is some crossover theres also complete unknowns answering, some very experienced people giving the sort of advice that someone like me wouldn’t normally be able to access.

Thanks for putting the time in John, I know your time is particularly precious.

Thanks for volunteering for this slot.

Perhaps you may wish to reflect on your experiences of preparing for the presentation itself – you’ve used extensive networks and a range of web technologies to share ideas for this. An example like this whilst keeping it simple (and fun) would be ideal.

I was thinking of doing something (again for the uninitiated) using a web 2.0 tool before/during the day. Any ideas would be great – it has to be easy to manage!

Sorry for the delay in responding – life and work gets in the way sometimes!

Your presentation is on “Professional Networking” delivered to a Broad Audience and the things that this brings to mind for me are set out below.

To me a Social Networking tool is Facebook, etc. and a Professional Networking tool is Linkedin, etc. and there is a distinct difference between the contributors / engagers and I think the lines often get blurred along the way.

a. I go on Facebook to connect with friends and family and to share bits of useless information – it’s for fun.

b. Linkedin on the other hand is about connecting my Real Networks to the virtual world so I can maintain connectivity with them over time – the problem with the Real Networks is if I move or my connection moves jobs then there’s a good chance we lose the connectivity and its not until some point in the future that either I or the other person find themselves asking the question “I wish I knew where they were because… they were ideal for that job, or they were an expert on that subject, etc.” It allows me to have loose relationships and keep track of people long after you had any Real Network contact.

c. The other benefit of Linkedin (or similar sites) is that I can expand my Network in to other organisations, informal networks or directly to people for a particular reason. I think the benefit of Virtual Networks is that they engender a more open approach to connecting to people – you accept a speculative connection and who knows what opportunities it might bring – I attended a workshop a few years ago and it was about Creating & Maintaining Knowledge Relationships and one of the main points driven home was that its often your loose or virtual connections that are of more assistance than those in your Real Network and in my experience I can vouch for this.

d. The power of the Professional Networking is that its not just Client, Supplier, Engineer or Architect focused – its OPEN, its available to all to have a blast –anyone who knows about collaboration knows that the more ideas, the more input the better… I think it encourages this – that said some contributions are flaky (I have another word for this also).

e. I do struggle with face to face Network Meetings because 9/10 you might meet someone who might be of assistance at some point in the future but by that time you have probably lost contact anyway – the joy of the Virtual Network is as explained earlier – call when you need me please and I’ll do my best – no promises but my approach is simple – help someone – they owe you one for the future and vice versa.

f. Finally I do hate people who come on Linkedin and reject invitations (yes I have made direct contact with the odd person speculatively) – it’s a Professional Networking site and if your going to go you might as well go the whole way…. Sorry about referring to Linkedin all the while – it’s my weapon of choice and the one I know best…

I hope this helps shape your thoughts – let us know how you get on…
Best Regards,

John Lohan (in case you didnt sus it out yet you can find me on Linkedin)